Chapter 158
AN: Thanks to Laureen for all her spectacular ideas for this
chapter!!
As darkness
fell on the eve of October 31, the clouds that had hung over central Iowa all
day long finally parted, exposing a glorious full moon that cast an eerie glow
upon the trick-or-treaters starting to emerge from their houses.
A perfect Halloween night, thought Claire as she flipped on the
porch light and stepped outside, shivering at the chill that immediately
accosted her. She still didn’t like the
cold of a Midwestern fall, but she had to admit, Halloween did seem more
festive and fun here in Clive, where the trees changed colors and she could
hand out candy from the front porch of her house, rather than the doorway of
her apartment. Trick-or-treaters from
outside her building had been rare back in Tampa, and there hadn’t been many
children in the apartment complexes she’d lived in anyway.
She was
looking forward to seeing the trick-or-treaters this year, though that would be
the only real highlight of her Halloween.
Once the clock struck nine, and trick-or-treating hours ended in the
neighborhood, she would be left with nothing to do but watch scary movies on TV
and freak herself out in her dark house, all alone, her husband a thousand
miles away in Biloxi.
She was
trying not to feel sorry for herself, but it was hard. Jamie had only been gone a day, and she was
already lonely. It just wasn’t the same
as when she had lived alone in Tampa.
There had always been things to do when she got bored there, friends to
see when she got lonely. Here in Clive,
she just felt isolated and trapped.
Once the babies are born, things will
get better, she kept
telling herself. Once she had twins to
take care of, there would always be something to do, and she would come to
cherish her alone time again. But right
now, she hated it, and she couldn’t help but resent Jamie for dragging away
from her friends and her job and every aspect of the life she had lived and
loved back in Florida. It was selfish,
and she knew it, but she had a right to be self-centered now and again.
Another
chill ran through her as she knelt in front of the two jack-o-lanterns she and
Jamie had carved the weekend before, her cold fingers fumbling with the lighter
she’d brought out. It had been she who’d
insisted on carving pumpkins to set out on the porch of their very first house,
on their very first Halloween as a married couple. Even though Jamie wasn’t going to be around
to spend the holiday with her, Claire wanted to at least honor the
festivities. Jamie had humored her,
carving an evil-looking cat jack-o-lantern, complete with pointed ears, to sit
next to her silly-faced, cross-eyed one.
They looked good, Claire decided, once she’d lit the candles in both and
stepped back to inspect their handiwork.
And in a few years, she thought, once the twins were old enough to help
carve the pumpkins, there would be two more jack-o-lanterns in their midst.
Smiling,
she turned to go back into the house.
It was not
long before the doorbell started to ring.
Armed with a big bowl of Skittles and Snickers, Claire greeted group
after group of trick-or-treaters, from herds of junior high kids in gruesome
zombie makeup or spandex jungle cat costumes, to pint-sized princesses,
witches, and superheroes. Especially
adorable were a preschool-aged girl in a Snow White costume and her little
brother, who was dressed as Dopey.
“It’s his
first time trick-or-treating,” explained their father, as he coaxed the toddler
to hold out his plastic pumpkin pail.
“What do you say, Benjamin?”
“Say
trick-or-treat!” piped up the little girl, in a bossy, big sisterly voice. “Come on, Benji… say trick-or-treat!”
“Twick-oh-tweat,”
the little boy finally mumbled, ducking his head shyly.
Claire
suppressed a giggle. “He looks like more
of a Bashful,” she said, smiling as she dropped a mini Snickers bar into the
toddler’s pail. “And what would you
like, Snow White?” she asked, offering the candy bowl to his big sister.
The little
girl plucked a packet of Skittles from the bowl and chirped, “Thank you!” Unlike her brother, she was not one bit
bashful.
“Thank
you,” their father echoed, nodding to her, as he put a hand on each child’s
shoulder and turned to lead them off the porch.
“Happy
Halloween!” Claire called, smiling as she watched the little Dopey toddle down
the steps, clinging tightly to his daddy’s hand. It wouldn’t be long, and she and Jamie would
have a couple of little trick-or-treaters to take around the neighborhood. She couldn’t wait. Now that she was nearing thirty and getting
past the years of drunken costume parties, she had come to the conclusion that
Halloween just wasn’t as much fun unless you had kids.
Standing
just inside the storm door, she rested her hand on her protruding stomach and
wondered what her twins would be dressed as next year. “If your daddy has anything to say about it,
probably a pair of Brazilian soccer players,” she murmured to the babies,
laughing as she rubbed her belly. There
was one good part about spending so much time home alone, playing housewife –
her babies were going to be very familiar with their mama’s voice by the time
they were born. She talked to them all
the time, because there was usually no one else to talk to but the cat.
As the
night wore on, the rush of trick-or-treaters slowed, and by eight-thirty, the
doorbell rang only sporadically, as the last groups of kids trickled up and
down the porch steps. Finally, at five-till-nine,
when no one had come for nearly ten minutes, Claire decided it was time to turn
off the porch light and lock up for the night.
But when she turned to close the inside door, she suddenly gasped, nearly
jumping out of her skin.
There,
standing just on the other side of the glass storm door, where there had been
no one seconds earlier, were two large, cloaked figures. One was very tall, a full head taller than
her even, much too tall for someone of trick-or-treating age. The other was shorter, but still
adult-sized. They both wore dark hoods
and masks, so that she could not see their faces.
Her heart
pounding, she stood frozen in the entryway, a few feet from the door. She wanted to grab the wooden door and slam
it shut, locking them out, but they were closer to it than she was. If they wanted in, they could have the storm
door open and block the threshold before she had a chance to close the inside
door.
She inched
toward them, thinking it would be best not to act suspicious. There was a lock on the inside of the storm
door… if she stalled them at the door, she might be able to lock it without
them noticing.
As soon as
she started toward the door, the taller figure called out in a very low,
robotic voice, “Trick or treat!” Upon
closer look, she realized that his dark cloak was actually a Darth Vader
costume. His companion was dressed as
the evil emperor from Star Wars.
“Trick-or-treating
hours are over now,” she called back through the closed door, dawdling behind
it. Don’t let them know you’re
freaked out, she coached herself.
“And aren’t you two a little old to be out trick-or-treating anyway?”
Neither of
them responded, though the Darth Vader guy did his freaky breathing thing a few
times. Claire reached casually for the
lock, trying to keep her hand from shaking.
She could feel their eyes on her from behind their masks; it made her
feel incredibly vulnerable, knowing that they were just feet away, staring in
at her, yet hiding their faces from her.
Then Darth
Vader spoke in his deep voice again, startling her. “Claire… I am your father…”
Claire
stopped dead in her tracks, staring at him.
He knows my name. Her mind
began to race. Who was he??
Then the
emperor let out a muffled giggle… a very familiar giggle. And, all of a sudden, Claire felt incredibly
stupid. Stupid… and confused… because
surely that could not be…
“Laureen??”
she asked incredulously, her gaze now fixed on the person in the creepy emperor
mask.
The emperor
burst into full-out laughter, while Claire continued to stare in
astonishment. Darth Vader remained
completely silent, though, and her eyes quickly went back to him. She looked him up and down, but even before
she observed that his height and build were just right, she knew who it had to
be. Who else could have been responsible
for randomly showing up with Laureen on her doorstep in a set of elaborate Star
Wars costumes?
“Nick?!”
“God
damnit,” Nick’s normal voice drifted out from behind the Darth Vader mask. “You just had to laugh and give us
away, didn’t you, Laureen?”
Emperor
Laureen giggled even harder, and Claire threw open the door she had been trying
to lock for the last couple of minutes.
“Oh my god! Get in here!!” she
exclaimed, grabbing Nick’s black cape and practically dragging him into the
house. He stumbled in, and Laureen
followed, and they both pulled off their masks to reveal flushed, gleeful
faces.
“Trick or
treat,” Nick said again in his regular voice, flashing her an impish
half-smile.
“This is a
trick and a treat,” she said, looking at both of them in disbelief. “What are you two doing here??”
“We came to
surprise you!” Laureen spoke up, grinning.
“Are you surprised?”
“Hell yeah,
I’m surprised! A little freaked out too,
if you couldn’t tell, but… wow! I can’t
believe you guys came all this way!”
Still astonished, she looked between the two of them again and then
said, “Come here!” She grabbed Laureen
first, giving her a big hug, and then she hugged Nick. He seemed taller than ever in his Darth Vader
gear, but he bent down to her height, giving her a hug that was more ginger
than usual and less tight, as her belly was now starting to get in the way.
“Ahh,
Claire, you look so cute!” Laureen burst out once Nick let go of her, grinning
as she looked at Claire’s large baby bump.
“I haven’t seen you in so long!”
In other words, ‘You’re bigger than I
thought you’d be!’ thought Claire, hiding a smirk.
“You’re gonna be shouting ‘Free Willy!’ by the time I’m ready to pop
these kids out, but thanks,” she laughed.
“Aww,
no! It’s okay! Just think, this is the one time where you
don’t have to worry about putting on weight, cause you’re supposed to! Enjoy it!” Laureen urged.
“Oh, don’t
worry,” Claire assured her, grabbing a Snickers bar from her candy bowl. “I am!”
Laureen and Nick both laughed, and Claire tossed a couple of candy bars
at them, too. When Nick’s bounced off
the side of his Darth Vader helmet, she giggled. “There’s a treat for your little trick,
Darth Carter.”
“Aww, what,
did I scare you with my awesome Vader voice?” he teased her playfully. “Hey, we could have shown up wearing Scream
costumes instead. That was Laureen’s
original idea.”
“It was
not!” Laureen exclaimed, smacking him in the shoulder.
Claire
snorted. “You would have never gotten
inside if you’d been wearing Scream masks,” she laughed.
“I know;
that’s what I told Laureen,” Nick said, straight-faced.
“You did
not!” Laureen cried, and Nick and Claire both laughed. “The Star Wars costumes were Nick’s
idea. We’ll show you mine.”
Claire
watched in curiosity as Laureen and Nick exchanged glances and then started to
strip off their costumes. Laureen got
her emperor’s robes off quickly, revealing red track pants and a red t-shirt
with the Mounds candy bar logo on the front.
Nick had a harder time getting out of his Darth Vader jumpsuit, but when
he did, he was wearing similar blue track pants and a blue shirt that sported
the Almond Joy logo.
“Mounds and
Almond Joy, huh? That’s cute,” said
Claire. A little random, perhaps, but
cute.
“You
haven’t seen the best part,” grinned Nick.
He looked over at Laureen again, who promptly blushed. Then they both turned around, and Claire saw
the backs of their t-shirts. Nick’s
said, ‘I’ve got nuts.’ Laureen’s
said, ‘I don’t.’ At the first
sign of giggling from Claire, they both about died laughing.
“Isn’t that
great?” Nick guffawed, turning back around.
He pointed at Laureen and added, “All her idea. She’s a genius.”
“I got the
idea off the internet,” Laureen confessed, blushing again.
“Still! Genius!”
Claire was
laughing; it was funny. But when
she looked between Nick and Laureen, dressed in their coordinating Halloween
costumes and giggling together, her laughter became more forced. A strange sensation was tugging on her
stomach, a feeling she had not felt in some time. She felt… left out.
It was
stupid; she knew it was stupid, but that was it. That was the feeling. She felt left out. Even though Nick and Laureen were both her
friends, even though they had come all this way to see her, she got the
impression there was something else going on, something going on with them that
she was not a part of. And, even though
she hated herself for it, it made her a little envious.
Since when
had Nick and Laureen been such good friends anyway? Sure, Laureen had always had a fantasy crush
on him, and yeah, there had been that supposed kissing incident on her wedding
night, and okay, so she could recall a conversation in which she’d sort of
encouraged Nick to give Laureen a chance… but… but somehow, in that moment,
she’d never realized how she would feel if she actually saw them together…
wearing matching Halloween costumes that referenced Nick’s nuts…
“We got one
made for you too,” said Laureen, beaming.
“It’s in the car… I’ll go get it!”
Before
Claire could say anything, Laureen went back outside. Claire watched her jog up to a car that was
parked along the street, a rental car, no doubt. Where were they staying? she suddenly
wondered. If they had flown together and
rented a car together, had they gotten a hotel room together too??
She looked
over at Nick. “So… did you take me up on
my advice about Laureen?” Might as
well be frank and just ask, she figured.
Nick seemed
to hesitate, scrunching his face up as he searched for the right words. “We’ve been hanging’ out,” was his final
answer.
“Hangin’
out?” She raised an eyebrow.
Nick
nodded. “Hangin’ out. She’s a cool girl.”
Claire
nodded too. “She’s a great girl,” she
agreed, and decided to leave it at that.
She couldn’t tell if he was being completely honest with her or not, but
it didn’t matter. It wasn’t any of her
business what Nick and Laureen had been doing, and it shouldn’t have had an
effect on her either way. She was
married. Nick was single. He was free to date anyone he wanted, and,
judging by his taste in the past, it would be a relief if he was interested in
a girl who was actually nice and normal.
She should be happy for him.
If there
was one thing Claire was good at, it was acting happy-go-lucky, even when she
didn’t feel that way. But before long,
she did start to feel that way again.
She was glad Nick and Laureen had decided to come North for the weekend
to surprise her and keep her company; she really was. After all, they were her friends, and as the
night wore on, she realized that’s all they were. Friends, the three of them.
As it
turned out, Nick and Laureen had had their candy bar shirts made by a graphics
company in Tampa, and in addition to the Almond Joy and Mounds shirts, they had
had a shirt made for Claire, too. Hers
was lime green and had the Doublemint gum logo on the front. Below that, right in the place that covered
her pregnant belly, there was the slogan, “Double the pleasure, Double the
fun.” When she pulled on the shirt,
smoothing it down over her stomach, she found that the slogan stretched right
across her baby bump (which was actually more of a “mound” itself.)
“Get it?”
said Nick, grinning. “Double… as in
twins.”
Claire had
gotten it right away, but Nick looked so pleased with himself that she could
not help but smile and say again, “That’s so cute… and clever! Thanks, you guys!!”
“We figured
it’d be perfect for… for the twins,” said Laureen, and at the word “twins,” a
strange look passed across her face.
Claire didn’t think much of it; she knew that look. For the last two months, almost, everyone
close to her had hesitated on the word “twins,” knowing that she had once been
pregnant with triplets. It was hard for
her to hear it too, but she was slowly getting used to the idea of two babies,
instead of three.
Thankfully,
no one mentioned the fact that Claire had once been pregnant with three babies,
and she was glad. It was Halloween, Nick
and Laureen had come all the way from Florida to make up for the fact that
Jamie wasn’t there, and she was determined to enjoy herself and make it worth
it, for them and her both.
As she
eventually found out, Laureen and Nick had already been traveling for several
days. Laureen had taken the week off
from work, and she and Nick had flown into Chicago so that Laureen could spend
a few days visiting her family and friends.
Then they had hopped a flight to Des Moines late that afternoon, rented
a car, and driven out to Clive. They
were both tired from the traveling, and no one felt much like going out.
Luckily,
Nick had brought entertainment, in the form of a plethora of his favorite
horror movies, most of them of the ‘80s slasher variety, and a Ouija board. “Oh my gosh!” Claire exclaimed, tearing off
the lid of the Ouija board box. “I
haven’t seen one of these in years!”
“I love
these things,” said Nick, running his hand over the Ouija board fondly.
“Me too!”
chimed in Laureen. “My friends and I used
to play with Ouija boards all the time in high school.”
“Oh yeah,
same here,” Claire smiled, remembering countless sleepovers at which she and
her girlfriends had crowded around the Ouija board, freaking themselves out as
they tried to summon spirits and find out who they were each going to
marry. “Ah, the memories.”
“Did you
and the guys used to play Ouija on the tour bus, Nick?” asked Laureen with a
giggle, and Claire joined in when she saw the look on Nick’s face.
“No, our
favorite was ‘Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board,’” Nick joked in a lisping,
effeminate voice.
“Ahh,
‘Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board’!!” Claire and Laureen both squealed,
practically in unison. Nick looked
rather startled. “How do you even know
that game??” Claire wondered, smiling at him in amusement.
“Hey, I’ve
got three sisters. I know what you
chicks do at your parties. I used to
crash BJ’s and Leslie’s.”
“Their
friends probably loved that,” said Laureen, giving Nick a starry-eyed look,
actually serious. Claire suppressed a
smile. “We should play this though!”
Laureen went on, taking the board out of its box. “I mean, it is Halloween and all. It’ll be fun!”
“Hell
yeah!” exclaimed Nick, pulling out the planchette and slapping it down on the
board. He looked up expectantly at
Claire. “Got any candles?”
She
laughed. “Yeah, lemme round up
some.” As Nick and Laureen set up the
board on the living room coffee table, Claire assembled a mismatched array of
candles around them, on every hard surface she could find. Within a few minutes, the living room lights
were off, and the three of them sat in the flickering glow of candlelight,
which was just bright enough for them to make out the letters and words on the
Ouija board in front of them.
The whole
scenario was so ridiculous and funny, three adults huddled over a Ouija board
like a trio of teenagers. But it was
fun, too, and Claire was immediately drawn in when she realized how into this
Nick and Laureen were.
Sitting in
between the two women, Nick put his fingertips on the end of the
planchette. Laureen reached out and put
hers on one side, and Claire rested hers on the other. A rush of electricity seemed to surge up
through her fingers as they brushed against Nick’s, and her pulse quickened.
This wasn’t
right, she thought. Her husband was far
away, and here she was, sitting at home next to her ex-boyfriend, her skin
tingling at the lightest touch, just like a teenager on a first date. Granted, the whole Ouija board thing was
teenager-esque anyway, but she had to get past these old feelings she had for
Nick. They seemed to resurface every
time he was near her, especially if things weren’t going well with Jamie, as
they hadn’t been lately. She wondered if
it was just hormones. Hormones… they
were the cause for every other strange feeling and craving she’d had
lately. So maybe it wasn’t so odd that,
instead of mandarin oranges on her tacos, she was craving Nick.
“So what
should we ask first?” asked Laureen with a nervous giggle, making the
planchette move around the board.
“Who will
Laureen marry?” Claire chimed in, teasingly.
Nick
chuckled, but Laureen said, “Hey, I’m starting to wonder myself! Okay, let’s do that – who will I marry?” She giggled, and they waited, their
fingertips poised on the planchette.
Slowly, it started to move, drifting downward toward the second row of
letters. For a moment, Claire’s stomach
turned over with the thought that it was going to land on the letter ‘N.’ But then, the planchette made a turn, slowing
down as it slid across ‘Q’ and ‘R’ and, finally, stopping at ‘S.’
“S,” Claire
exhaled, and she was surprised at how relieved she felt. ‘S’ for surprised… ‘S’ for stupid. This whole thing was stupid. It was just a game, the Ouija board; it
wouldn’t have meant anything if it had tried to spell out ‘N-I-C-K.’ All that would have shown was that Laureen
had a crush on him, which Claire already knew.
She had to stop taking things so seriously.
The pointer
slid one letter over to ‘T’ next, then moved up to the top row and landed on
‘E.’ Claire glanced over at Laureen,
wondering if the sequence of letters meant anything to her. She was amused to find that, even in the
candlelight, Laureen’s face was red with a blush.
“S-T-E,”
Claire spelled out, even as the planchette started to creep slowly across the
board again. “Could that be
‘Steve’? ‘Steven’? ‘Stefan’?
‘Stewart’?” She shuddered,
remembering that guy Stew Jamie had set her up on a blind double date
with. Pretty much the worst date she’d
ever been on.
“Steve,”
said Laureen in a low voice, as the planchette stopped on ‘V.’
“Oooh…
who’s Steve?? Do you know a certain
Steve?”
Laureen
giggled. “I have a friend named
Steve. I guess I had kind of a crush on
him, in high school. I haven’t really
seen him much since then, though. I lost
touch with him once I started college, and since I moved to Tampa, I don’t have
any of his contact information anymore.”
“Hm, well,
you never know,” Claire said teasingly, giving her friend an exaggerated
wink. “I mean, look at me and Jamie.”
“Yeah,
aren’t you two the happy couple?” blurted Nick sarcastically, causing both
women to look at him. Despite the
tug-of-war of feelings that had been going on inside her all evening, Claire
immediately felt defensive of her marriage and was about to retort when Nick’s
eyes widened.
“I’m sorry…
I shouldn’t have said that,” he apologized quickly, looking slightly
embarrassed. “It’s none of my
business. I just meant… well, you’re
here, and he’s in Mississippi, and things haven’t exactly been smooth sailing
for the two of you lately.”
“I know,”
Claire said shortly. “Thanks for the
reminder.”
“Sorry,”
Nick repeated, though he sounded less apologetic this time. She looked away, but she could still feel his
eyes on her, studying her. He knew
perfectly well that, despite her excitement over the babies, “happy” hadn’t
exactly been the best adjective to describe her these last two months. It was really no secret.
“Hey, I’ve
got another one,” Laureen spoke up, clearly anxious to change the subject. “We could ask what Claire’s going to
have. You know… girls or boys?”
“No, no,
no, don’t ask! I want it to be a
surprise.”
“Aw, come
on,” said Nick, jabbing Claire lightly in the shoulder. “You don’t really believe everything the
Ouija says anyway, do you?”
“No, but I
still don’t want to know what it says,” Claire insisted firmly. “Ask something else.”
“Aww,
fine. Laureen? Wanna know what the sex of your kids will
be?”
Laureen
laughed. “Uhhh, not ready to start
thinking about kids yet. Let’s summon
spirits instead.”
They all
broke into laughter at how casually she said that last part. Playing along, Claire replied, “Okay! Who should we summon?”
Silence
fell, as they all thought.
“Paris
Hilton?” suggested Nick finally. Claire
and Laureen both gave him skeptical looks.
“What?! She’s dead, isn’t she?”
Nick added defensively. “Come on, let’s
do her!”
“Let’s ‘do’
her? Oh, I’m sure you’d like to ‘do’
her,” Claire teased, elbowing him.
Nick made a
face. “What do you think I am, a
necrophiliac? She’s gotta be pretty
decomposed by now.”
“Not to
mention the many STDs she must have had when she was alive,” Laureen added,
snickering. “That’s pretty nasty too.”
“True. But c’mon, it’ll be funny. Let’s contact Paris Hilton,” Nick insisted,
and reluctantly, the two women agreed.
“You do the
honors, Nick,” said Claire. “Summon the
slut.”
Laureen
giggled. Nick smirked. “Okay… lemme think.” He paused, then closed his eyes and said in
a lofty, exaggerated voice, “We are trying to summon… Par-” He stopped, his words swallowed up by
giggles. Watching him crack himself up,
Claire couldn’t help but laugh, and Laureen joined in too. “Sorry, sorry,” Nick laughed, clearing his
throat. “Okay… lemme try again.” Sobering, he said again in a normal voice,
“We’re trying to contact Paris Hilton…
Paris-”
The two
women slumped as Nick snorted and started laughing again, his fingers falling
off the planchette. “I can’t do it,” he
said breathlessly, wiping his eyes. “I
sound too retarded.”
“I’ll do
it,” Laureen volunteered, and when the three of them had gotten their laughter
under control again and put their fingers back on the planchette, she managed
to say, straight-faced, “We want to contact Paris Hilton… Paris, if you’re
among us, give us a sign.”
Claire
fought hard not to laugh as the three of them sat there, perfectly still and
silent, waiting for the planchette to move.
She closed her eyes, knowing that if she saw Nick’s face, she would lose
it. No one moved. No one breathed. Then, after a few long seconds, she felt the
planchette jerk slightly beneath her fingertips. Her eyes flew open just in time to see the
planchette creep a few inches and then stop.
“Paris, are
you with us?” asked Laureen. Claire
could tell she had played with Ouija boards many times before; she knew the
drill. Sure enough, the planchette began
drifting towards the “Yes” at the top of the board.
Claire
snickered. “What should we ask?” she
wondered, looking at Laureen and Nick.
“When you
were going to put out that album, did you really think you could sing?” Laureen
asked. Nick snorted, and Claire
giggled. The planchette moved off the
“Yes” and hovered an inch or two away.
Then it kept on going, stopping directly over the “No.” All three of them broke into loud laughter.
“At least
you’re honest with yourself,” Claire snickered.
“Okay, how about this one – Paris, exactly how many STDs did you
have at the time of your death?”
The
planchette circled around again, finally landing on the number 6. “Eww!!” Laureen and Claire screamed,
giggling.
“Good thing
I never hooked up with her,” Nick said with a shudder. “Okay, my turn. Paris… what do you think of Nick Carter’s
latest solo album?”
Claire
smiled, watching as the planchette moved slowly to the letter section and began
spelling out an answer. ‘T’… ‘H’… ‘A’…
“That’s
hot!” she burst out when it was done, cracking up. “Nick, you are totally moving it, aren’t
you?”
“What??” Nick
cried defensively. “Are you saying my
album isn’t hot?” He looked
totally serious at first, but then he offered her a cheeky grin.
“Ahh, you
did move it!” Laureen exclaimed. “Don’t
do that; it’s no fun if you move it on purpose!”
“Yeah!”
Claire agreed, giving Nick a playful smack.
“Alright,
alright…” Smirking, Nick said, “Let’s
not call back someone specific, like a dead celebrity. It’s too funny. Let’s just see who we can get and play
around.”
“Yeah,
that’s more fun anyway,” Laureen agreed, smiling at him. “Okay, let’s try this…” She moved the planchette in a few sweeping
circles across the board and then let it come to rest in the top center. “From here on out, no one moves it on purpose
– got it?”
Nick and
Claire both nodded their agreement.
“Okay,”
Laureen said again. “Now… is there
anyone here with us?”
It took
almost a full minute, but finally, the planchette began to move. None of the three of them were moving it; at
least Claire didn’t think they were. She
studied Nick and then Laureen, as the planchette crept across the board,
stopping over ‘Yes.’ Their faces were
both set in concentration, their eyes fixed on the pointer, tracking its
movement. They looked as innocent as she
was.
“Someone’s
here,” Laureen breathed, and Claire could tell she was getting into it. “To the person who moved the pointer… what is
your name?”
Rather than
moving to the rows of letters, the planchette moved straight across the board
to the word ‘No.’
Claire
blinked. They all stared.
“Okay
then,” said Laureen. “You don’t want to
tell us your name. Well then, can you
tell us if you’re someone who has passed on?”
Very
slowly, the planchette crept back across the board, landing squarely on
‘Yes.’ A chill ran through Claire. She wasn’t sure if she believed in this Ouija
stuff or not, but she had to admit, it was downright freaky when she really
thought about it.
“How did
you die?” probed Laureen, asking the very question they were probably all
wondering.
A long
thirty seconds passed with no action, and they all sat perfectly still, waiting
in suspense. The hairs on the back of
Claire’s neck stood on end. When the
planchette gave a jerk, she nearly jumped.
This game was way too nerve-wracking.
Nick
stifled a giggle, smirking across the board at her. He had seen her jump. Claire shot him a dirty look in return,
smiling beneath it.
“Shh,
watch… it’s spelling something,” Laureen hissed, pointing to the board. They all watched, stringing letters together
in their heads. ‘R’… ‘O’… ‘B’… “Robbery?” Laureen asked, when the
planchette stilled once more. “They died
in a robbery?”
“That’s
scary,” said Claire, and, indeed, another chill ran through her. She wasn’t sure why, but one of her greatest
fears had always been of someone breaking in.
Ever since she was young, she’d always taken care to shut doors, lock
windows, close curtains. She hated the
feeling that someone could be watching her, sneaking up on her, creeping in
while she was asleep…
“Yeah,”
Laureen had just barely said, when the planchette started to move again. ‘I’… ‘W’… ‘A’… ‘S’… “I… I was…” Laureen read along as the
planchette continued to spell. ‘T’… ‘H’…
‘E’… “I was the…” ‘R’… ‘O’…
Laureen
gasped, as the planchette slid over the ‘R’ a second time. “Robber??
He said, ‘I was the robber.’”
Chills
raced down Claire’s spine for the third time.
She glanced from Laureen, who appeared tremulously excited, to Nick, who
simply looked unfazed. “Nick, are you
making it move again?” she asked, a note of desperation hanging from her words.
“What, you
think I’m trying to scare you?” One
corner of his mouth turned up in the usual smirk. “I’m not.”
When Claire gave him a hard look, he took his hands off the planchette
and held them up in defense. “Honest to
God, I haven’t been moving it. Not since
we called Paris back.” He smirked
again, seeming amused with the whole thing.
Claire bit
down on her bottom lip. “Guys, I don’t
wanna play anymore. I know this is
probably just bullshit, but… just in case, I don’t want my house getting broken
into by any robber ghosts.”
Nick
snorted. “Robber ghosts… that sounds
like something from Scooby Doo. ‘And I
would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn’t been for you meddling kids!’” He shook his fist cartoonishly.
Laureen
giggled. Claire cracked a smile. “I know, I know… I’m being stupid. It’s just, this stuff freaks me out… you know
that.”
“I know,”
Nick said, setting his joking air aside.
“I guess that’s enough Ouija-ing tonight. Laureen, you’re the expert – how do we get
rid of the robber ghost?”
“We say
goodbye and good riddance,” replied Laureen, moving the planchette to the word
‘Goodbye’ at the bottom of the board.
She waited a few seconds, and then she pulled the board right out from
under the planchette and turned it over, setting it back on the coffee table
upside down. “Hopefully that will stop
any robber ghosts from hitting your house tonight, Claire.”
She gave
Claire a playful smile, which Claire returned, feeling silly. She was probably too old to take any of this
seriously, but in a way, it was because she was older that she did take it more
seriously. She wasn’t just a little girl
who could count on her parents and big brother to protect her from ghosts and
burglars and monsters under the bed anymore.
She was the parent now – or soon-to-be – and it was up to her to protect
herself, her unborn children, and their home while Jamie was away. The thought of intruders did make her
nervous. She was extra glad Nick and
Laureen were there now, being that it was now getting late on Halloween night.
She would
never forget how terrified she had been on the Halloween night she’d spent
alone in Nick’s house, when the burglar alarm had gone off for no apparent
reason. The police and home security
company had never figured out exactly who or what had triggered the alarm, and
it still unnerved her when she thought about it. What if someone had broken in?
Here at the
house in Clive, she and Jamie had no fancy security system. No one expected to be burglarized in an
ordinary, middle-class neighborhood in the suburbs. Sure, people still locked their doors when
they went to bed at night, but in the summer, windows were left open, and
anyone who really wanted to break in would be able to find a way. Ransacking a few houses in the suburbs would
surely be much easier than trying to break into Nick Carter’s mansion. And at five foot, four inches and nineteen
weeks pregnant, Claire had little hope of trying to defend herself or her home
against an intruder.
Shivering,
she crossed her arms tightly over her chest, hugging herself a little, and
looked again from Nick to Laureen, who was packing the Ouija board back into
its box. “I’m really glad you guys
came,” she said sincerely, in case she had not said so before.
“Anytime,”
smiled Nick, resting a hand on her shoulder.
Laureen nodded emphatically.
“We knew
you wouldn’t want to be alone on Halloween.”
Claire
laughed. “You know me too well.”
“We sure
do!” Nick agreed. “Now, let’s watch Scream.”
He gave her
a devilish smile, and she slugged him playfully in the shoulder. “Ass.
Can’t we just watch, like, Hocus Pocus or something on the Disney
Channel instead?”
They all
laughed. In the end, they settled for Young
Frankenstein, which Nick had brought among his stash of slasher
flicks. The movie’s end found the three
of them close together on the couch, feet on the coffee table, a big blanket
spread over their legs, and an empty bowl of popcorn resting on Nick’s lap. As Claire reached for the DVD remote, Nick
yawned loudly. “Man, I’m tired. And it’s only midnight. Guess I’m getting old.”
“I’m right
behind ya, buddy. I’m ready for bed
too,” Claire agreed, turning off the DVD player. “So… are you guys up for driving back to your
hotel, or would you rather just crash here?
I’ve got room,” she offered, secretly hoping they would say yes to
staying with her. She would feel much
better with two other people in the house… not to mention, she would rather not
wonder what kind of hotel arrangements Nick had made for himself and
Laureen. (Two separate rooms? One suite with two bedrooms? One room with two beds? Or just one room with one big bed? Just how close had they gotten?)
Nick and
Laureen exchanged glances, coming to a silent consensus. “We’d be happy to chill here, if you’ve got
room,” said Nick.
“I said I
did,” Claire chirped, smiling. “I can’t
promise the accommodations will be as nice as a hotel, but… here’s what I’ve
got to offer – the babies’ room has no furniture and lots of boxes in it, so that’s
out, but there is a guest room with a bed that one of you can sleep in. As for the other, there’s… a couch. Either up here or downstairs in the basement. Take your pick.”
The
decision was made quickly. Ever the
gentleman, Nick insisted that Laureen take the guest room and martyred himself
upon the couch. “I’ll stay in the living
room,” he said. “No stairs, and closer
proximity to you two ladies, in case the robber ghost strikes.”
Laureen and
Claire both laughed, though Claire really was glad to know Nick would be
nearby.
“Are you
sure you’re alright with sleeping on the couch?” she asked him, once Laureen
had gone off to get ready for bed.
Nick
scoffed. “Are you kidding? I can sleep anywhere. Don’t you remember, we used to crash on the
couch all the time?”
Claire
smiled, remembering the many times they’d woken up on the couch together like a
couple of college kids, hungover and surrounded by empty beer cans and greasy
pizza boxes from the night before. Those
had been the days.
“I know. But you said yourself, you’re getting
old. Just making sure you’re not too
arthritic for couches now,” she teased, jabbing him in the ribs.
He poked
her back. “Remember now, you’re right
behind me.”
“Oh, you
don’t have to tell me. I’d never survive
a night on the couch now; I’d stay awake just trying to keep my big ol’ belly
from rolling off all night. I need a big
bed with room to sprawl… that’s the nice part about Jamie being gone.” She smiled, looking forward to sliding
beneath the sheets and sprawling to very center of the bed if she wanted to.
Still,
though she was tired, she knew sleep wouldn’t find her right away – it never
did these days. It was getting harder
and harder to sleep, what with the trouble she had to go to to find a comfortable
position, and all the worries that ran through her head at night, worries about
the babies and her marriage and her life choices about… things… people…
She looked
up at Nick. “Well, anyway, let me grab
you some pillows and blankets.” She
went to rummage through the linen closet in the hallway and returned with an
armload of spare blankets and quilts and a couple of pillows, which she
arranged into a reasonably comfortable-looking bed for Nick. “There you go,” she said. “Seem okay?”
“Seems
perfect,” said Nick with a smile.
“Okay. I set out extra toothbrushes in the bathroom,
and there’s toothpaste on the counter.
Is there anything else you need that I’m forgetting?”
“Nope, I
think I’m good. Everything’s great. Now go to bed,” said Nick with a wink, giving
her a teasing grin.
She smiled
back. “Alright. Well, feel free to knock if you need
anything. Goodnight…”
“’Night,
Claire.” Nick seemed to hesitate a
moment, then reached out and pulled her into a quick, impulsive hug. “Thanks for letting us stay.”
“Thanks for
coming,” she replied, smiling, as they released each other. “Seriously, I feel much better with you guys
here.”
“I figured
you might.” Nick winked again, reminding
her how well he understood her. Better
than Jamie did most of the time, she realized again.
Wanting to
sigh, she told him goodnight one last time and retreated to her room, closing
her door behind her. She got ready for
bed and slid beneath her sheets, planting herself in the very center of the
bed, just as she’d wanted to. But as
she’d suspected, it took a long time for sleep to find her.
Early into
the morning, Claire lay awake, torn up with the knowledge that Nick was
sleeping just a few rooms away and that, though she was legally and sacredly
bound to someone else, she was still in love with him.
***